Reynolds’ Men’s Wear on Franklin Street has been a fixture in this town since Amberly’s grandparents opened it in 1966. Before that, it had been a menswear store for nearly forty years, outfitting the workmen of our community. Her parents James and Ilah bought the store in 1971.

When her father decided to retire in 2007, Amberly, then 28, convinced him to sell her half interest, and let her run it. “It’s the only exclusively men’s store on the coast. In fact, men’s only clothing stores are rare throughout the world.” He tried to dissuade her. “He knew how hard it is to run a business. He wanted me to get a government job with a regular paycheck and pension,” she said with a laugh. “But the store had been in our family for 41 years. I’d worked with him since 2003. It was my love and I wanted to keep it going.”

The timing of her takeover wasn’t ideal. In 2008, the economic crash began and accelerated in 2009. The Franklin Street renovation project happened in the summer of 2009, virtually closing down the street. “I was able to hang on because my dad owned the building and charged cheap rent.”

I suspect it was more than just cheap rent that allowed Amberly to hang on and thrive. Her quiet, soft-spoken demeanor belies an inner strength that is awe-inspiring.

***

Amberly graduated from Fort Bragg High School in 1997 and went to Sacramento Community College. She thought she might become a teacher. “I also worked at a Christian elementary school as an office lady. It was there I learned that I didn’t want to become a teacher.” She laughed. “It’s a really hard job.”

In 2001, she moved to Mount Tremper, New York. “My sister Karen lived there with her baby daughter. I took care of the baby during the day while she worked. I also worked the overnight shift at a 24-hour K-Mart. That was the coolest job I ever had. Not many people shop in the middle of the night, so I got a chance to visit with my co-workers and make lasting friendships.”

A year later, she returned to her previous job in Sacramento. “In January 2003, I moved back to Fort Bragg. For a boy,” she added with a laugh. This boy was Vince Caccamo who she’d known from kindergarten, but lost touch with after high school. He’d graduated from UC Berkeley and returned to work in his dad’s construction business. “I was home for a visit in 2002 and ran into him at the Caspar Inn. I remember I was wearing jeans sprinkled with pink glitter.” She smiled at the memory.

After she moved to Fort Bragg, she worked with her dad and found she really liked it. “My favorite time of year is prom when guys get fitted for tuxedos. There are so few chances for them to get dressed up, which makes this time of year so special.” While dating Vince, she took classes at the local College of the Redwoods campus. In 2005, she enrolled in Humboldt State. “I went to school during the week and came home on weekends to work. I finished my BA in Cultural Anthropology in three semesters.”

Amberly and Vince were married in June 2007. They had their first son Matteo in 2009. Two years later, George was born.

Her dad passed away in June 2009. “The building needed a foundation and the store needed freshening up. It hadn’t changed in years.” In November, she leased a building a few doors down, moved the store, and added women’s clothing. “I took out a three-year lease. The plan was to renovate the old building and move back. Instead, I started having babies and that plan was delayed four more years.”

In February 2015, she decided to take Reynolds’ Men’s Wear back to its roots and spin off the women’s section into its own store across the street—Wren’s (a play on Women’s Reynolds). Then came the shock of her life—a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The new store opened in April. A week later, she discovered she was pregnant.

“I’d always wanted a girl and thought this could be our chance. But I had cancer and didn’t know what that meant for the pregnancy.” Chemotherapy treatments began during her second trimester. When asked how she coped with the rigors of cancer treatment combined with being pregnant, having two small children and running two businesses, she said, “I just got up each day and did the best I could.” It helped that both of her sisters work for her—Karen at Reynolds’ and Michelle at Wren’s.

Admitting she had cancer is not easy for Amberly who describes herself as an introvert and private person. “But it’s part of who I am, part of my story.” Baby Raphael was born on Thanksgiving Day 2016. “Even though we’re not very religious, we gave him a name that means ‘God’s Healer.’”

Raphael

Eighteen months later, Amberly has recovered from cancer and learned how to live again. “I have a new outlook on work—why I do what I do. I do it for my family—they mean everything to me.”

Matteo

Amberly notes many changes in Fort Bragg, mostly surrounding the economic shift from logging and fishing to tourism. “We carried the Ben Davis line of work clothes forever, but I recently closed my account with them. My customers no longer need those types of clothes. There are new people moving here with different ideas mixing with the good ol’ boys. As a fifth generation native, I understand and respect the good ol’ boys—those who never left the area. But I think it’s important to go away, gather new information and ideas, and bring them back home.”

George

As with all change, she notes the good and the bad. “I like seeing downtown stores filling up. I’m part of the Downtown Watch group of business owners who meet once a month to talk about our businesses and promotion. Tourism is great, but hospitality and retail jobs don’t pay much. A lot of our future hinges on what happens to the G-P property. I’d like to see some type of industry that capitalizes on the ocean—like a research facility, aquarium, and marine life rescue center.”

The future is something she thinks about each day. “I plan on running these stores forever and making enough money to support my employees. I’m also working on a blog, the theme of which will be a play on the words Mom and Entrepreneur—Mom-preneur. It will focus on lifestyle or clothing.”

There’s no doubt that whatever challenges Amberly faces, she will conquer them and thrive.